How to Set Up a Network of WordPress Sites on the Same Hosting Account
WordPress is a fantastic content management system used by millions of websites across the globe. It’s user-friendly, highly customizable, and has a massive community backing it up. If you’re thinking about setting up a blog or website on the platform, here’s a useful guide on how to do it. It’ll teach you the basics as well as give you a good understanding of how WordPress works. Even if you’re already familiar with the platform, it’s always nice to learn a little bit more about it. So here we go.
Step 1: Install WordPress
The very first step in setting up a WordPress site is to install it on a server. You can either use the WordPress installer or download the zip file and install it manually. The later is recommended as it gives you more control over the content.
The reason why you need a server is because WordPress stores a copy of all your blog posts and files in a database. Storing this data on a local device means you’ll have to run a database query to get any content (this is called a “cache miss”). So, in terms of speed, having a server is preferable as all the content is stored on one place. This also makes managing backups much easier. In the event of a server malfunction or a hard drive failure, you’ll have the content available to restore.
Step 2: Activate The WordPress Blog
Once you’ve installed WordPress, you should activate it on your server. To do this, navigate your web browser to https://wordpress.com/ and click on the Activate button. You’ll then be prompted to enter a new password for the WordPress account and to confirm it. If you haven’t set up a password for the account yet, it’ll be suggested to you. Once you’ve set up a password, click on the Activate button again. You’ll now be able to log in to your WordPress account and begin setting up your blog.
When you log in to your WordPress dashboard, you’ll see a screen similar to this:
- Welcome to WordPress (Dashboard): the screen you’ll see once you log in to your WordPress dashboard
- Search: the box at the top of the dashboard where you can type in keywords and search for articles or themes to add to your site
- Reading: the box on the right side of the dashboard where you can read and follow blogs you’ve subscribed to (this is also where you can keep track of your articles’ downloads and read the most recent articles on your blog)
- Writing: the box on the left side of the dashboard where you can write your articles
- Media: the box at the bottom of the dashboard where you can upload and manage photos, videos, and music files used on your site
- Discussion: the box in the center of the dashboard where you can engage with other WordPress users through forums and comments
- Settings: the box at the very top of the dashboard where you can configure various aspects of your site (search engine results, site appearance, and more)
As you can see above, the WordPress dashboard is pretty self-explanatory. To the right of the dashboard, you’ll see the Reading icon. Click on this to display your recently-read articles. You can also click on the Writing icon to start typing your articles. You can click on the Media icon to upload photos, videos, and music files to your site.
Step 3: Choose A Unique Theme For Your Blog
One of the first things you need to do when setting up a WordPress blog is choosing a unique theme. This is the design used by your site; its appearance will greatly affect how your articles display on your site and how users interact with it. Themes come with lots of features but you don’t have to use them all to get a unique look for your blog. For instance, if you click on the Search icon at the top of the dashboard, you’ll see a list of pre-installed themes: